import re
line = "Cats are smarter than dogs"
matchObj = re.match(r'(.*) are (.*?) .*', line, re.M | re.I)
if matchObj:
    print("matchObj.group():", matchObj.group())
    print("matchObj.group(1)", matchObj.group(1))
    print("matchObj.group(2)", matchObj.group(2))
else:
    print("No match!!")